Spain Saving the Iberian Lynx

Even a government facing financial crisis on a scale not seen since the 1930s can do something remarkable if it makes a concerted effort as Spain has proved to save the world's most critically endangered cat, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). Down to the mid-19th century this beautiful and distinctive wild cat was distributed all over the Iberian Penninsula, now its wild reproduction is restricted to two small areas in Andalucia. There have been confirmed reports of lynx in southern Portugal, but no confirmation of reproduction there; a conservation group also reported the presence of a wild litter in Extremadura. The future conservation of the lynx is therefore highly dependent on captive breeding programs.

The Olivilla captive breeding center has been very successful in breeding dozens of lynx that have been released into the wild to supplement declining populations in the nearby hills. Ten years ago there were perhaps only 100 of these cats remaining. The usual anthropogenic causes were driving the lynx towards extinction; the first extinction of a large cat since the days of the sabre-tooth tiger, 10,000 years ago. Now thanks to government sponsored, intense conservation there are 300 and the numbers are rising. In 2013 breeding centers in Spain and Portugal reported a total of 44 surviving captive bred kittens. Around $50 million has been spent rescuing the feline from an unnatural fate, mostly by the Andalucian regional government. The lynx is a conservation success story of which Spain can be proud. Scotland has a similar extinction problem with it own endemic wildcat, but whether it will decide to foot a considerable conservation bill like Andalucia did to save its lynx is not decided.